Quiet
by lightblue-Nymphadora
Summary: Malfoy Manor is quiet. Narcissa remembers
1. Third Year

**_LbN: This will eventually be a Narcissa/Lily. It's my first time writing either of their characters, so be gentle :). That said, if I completely screw them up, let me know. They're younger in this fic, so they'll be a little different..._**

**Quiet**

Narcissa walked slowly through the halls of Malfoy Manor. There was a time that these walls would echo the sounds of raucous laughter or the evil cackle of madmen; but now the house was quiet. It was one o'clock in the afternoon, and Narcissa was troubled. She couldn't understand why she was thinking about…_her_ now, but it probably had something to do with what happened the morning after the battle.

"_Potter!"_

"_Yes?"_

"_I don't know if I'll get another chance to tell you this; Lucius, Draco, and I will probably be in Azkaban by this afternoon. Thank you. For everything."_

She'd had to tell him, but she detested him so. Lucius always egged her on, thinking he knew what it was all about, but he was so far off the mark it was comical. He was under the impression that her hatred of Potter was just like his, blind loyalty to the Dark Lord. She'd never gotten around to telling him that she was more like Severus than like him.

She walked into her private room and after locking the door, sat down on the vanity stool next to her bed. She tapped a drawer twice and it opened to reveal a Pensive.

* * *

"How are you tonight, Narcissa?" Lucius smiled.

"That's Miss Black to you, Malfoy," Bellatrix said coolly from across the table. "You're not married to her yet."

"I'm fine, Malfoy," Narcissa smiled. Her gaze wandered across the Great Hall as she took another bite of her roast chicken. It was completely unfair that she had to marry him; he was such a brownnoser. At least she didn't have to have classes with him; he was in Andromeda's year.

"Cissy, do you want any dessert?"

"No Bella," Narcissa shook her head. She didn't understand why Bellatrix insisted on treating her like a child in front of people. If she wanted anything she could get it herself; she was thirteen, damn it.

The Headmaster droned on for a few minutes after the plates had cleared, wishing them a good term and such. The youngest Black never paid attention to these, she was too busy looking round the hall at everyone else. People watching was an art learned early in pureblood houses, and Narcissa was one of the best. She took in everything she saw. The Ravenclaws were sitting up straight in rapt attention, their first years looking a bit apprehensive; probably trying to remember everything. The Hufflepuffs looked comfortable, some of them were still snacking on cookies or cakes. They weren't slouching or anything, they just didn't look poker stiff like the Ravenclaws. The Gryffindors were a mixture, just like Slytherin. Some were paying attention, others were goofing off. Finally, the Headmaster dismissed them and there was the loud banging and scraping of benches being pushed back as hundreds of students headed out of the hall.

**Quiet**

Urrrggghh. Friday, finally. Narcissa ran a hand through her long blonde hair as she walked down the hallway. She'd forgotten how stressful the first few weeks of school could be, but her teachers were definitely giving her a reminder. All of a sudden, she felt a bump as someone walked into her. Automatically, she reached out and caught the girl as she stumbled back.

"Careful girl," she said, lifting her back to her feet. She was a Gryffindor, and a first year by the look of terror she was giving her.

"Sorry," the girl said, "I wasn't watching were I was going."

"Don't worry, girl; neither was I."

"Lily."

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Lily."

The tone of the last sentence was what made Narcissa remember the name in days to come. Normally, she didn't go around memorizing Gryffindors' names because first, she couldn't handle Andy's proud squeals at her "rebellion" and two, Bella would kill her. However, the way Lily said it made her pay attention. It was spoken in a calm tone that nevertheless stated, quite clearly, that Narcissa would be expected to remember that name should she see Lily in the future.

"Nice to meet you. Watch out next time, especially on the stairs; there are a few trick steps."

"Okay."

* * *

The adult Narcissa smiled into the Pensive as it showed their first meeting. It was odd, really. She had no idea why, for that one moment, she wasn't really worried about Lily's blood status. Probably because she wasn't being tailed by Bella or courted by Malfoy at that moment. With a small sigh of nostalgia, she made up her mind to stay for a while, and swirled the memories again.

* * *

"Miss Black, could you come up here a moment?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I need you to tutor a few of my first years. Your marks are excellent in the class and you're one of the only ones not completely blinded by this dratted rivalry."

"Of course, professor," Narcissa smiled. "Who will I be tutoring?"

"Erika Rosco from Ravenclaw, Michael Wishburn from Slytherin, and Lily Evans from Gryffindor. You know her?" McGonagall asked at the look of recognition on Narcissa's face.

"I've met her before. Briefly."

"Wonderful! Well, I've told them that you will owl them with what times work best for you. Here are their names, in case you forget. And let me know if you need anything, won't you?"

"Yes, professor."

Narcissa exited the classroom and just barely caught herself before walking straight into Bellatrix.

"Careful, Cissy," her sister smirked. "You'll get to be as bad as those Hufflepuffs if you don't watch where you're going."

Narcissa suppressed an eye roll with difficulty. She knew a few Hufflepuffs, including Andy's secret boyfriend, and they weren't really as bad as all that. However, she knew Bellatrix would have something to say if she saw her less than willing to criticize, so she simply smiled up at her oldest sister.

"What did McGonagall want?"

"Wants me to tutor some firsties."

"Slytherins, I hope!"

"One of them is. The others are a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor."

"Ick. I'm sorry. If you need any help keeping them in line, just let me know," Bellatrix grinned.

"I don't think it'll be a problem," Narcissa smiled back at her.

"Of course not, you're a Black."

Fixing their schedules took a while, but finally, that next Friday, the group met in the library. With a smirk, Narcissa noticed how Wishburn was pointedly avoiding the others' gazes.

"Alright, look," she said, "I know you all are supposed to hate each other or whatever, but as long as you're here, you're all stupid the same. So we're going to get along, or at least be cordial. Agreed?"

The first years nodded but said nothing. She realized then that they were afraid of her, which, of course, would make her job a whole lot easier.

"You all are on chapter three, so we'll go over that first."

The hour went quickly, with Narcissa reading from the chapter and the first years asking her questions. By the end of it, they were all talking. She could tell that they still didn't like each other, but at least they wouldn't sit in silence for these things. As she was gathering her things to leave, she glanced over and noticed that Lily was still there.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I was just wondering…I've been here for two weeks and all I've heard from older Gryffindors is how evil all you Slytherins are. You don't seem as foul as they say."

"Not all of us are evil, just like not all of you guys are noble," Narcissa said simply.

"True."

"I've got to go," Narcissa told the younger girl. "If you need help this weekend, send me an owl, okay? Just…don't send it at breakfast. My sister's not as nice as I am."

"Alright."

**_LbN: Like it? Hate it? Want me to quit writing forever? Let me know!!_**


	2. Fifth Year

**_LbN: I hate writer's block...Hope you guys like the chapter, sorry it took so long._**

**Quiet**

"We've got to stop meeting like this," Lily smirked. Narcissa smiled and closed the compartment door.

"No we don't," she smirked. "Andy says hello, by the way. She's keeping Bella occupied for me, so we can talk. How was your summer?"

"Was fine. My sister went off to summer camp the entire time, so it was quiet. Better than Sev's at least. His parents are still fighting…Wait a moment," she said worriedly, "did you say Andy was keeping Bellatrix occupied? How?"

"She…er…started making out with Ted in the hallway outside of our compartment…Bellatrix and Rodolphus flipped out, it was priceless. When I left she was still shouting at Andy. So, you ready for your third year?"

"Yeah! Should be great; I can't wait for the Hogsmeade visits."

The two girls fell into silence. Narcissa stood up and went to the window; Bellatrix was coming down the hall.

"Ummm, care for a shout?" she asked Lily.

"What?"

"Bellatrix is coming."

"One second…"

The redhead took some deep breaths and Narcissa grinned as very fake tears started rolling down Lily's cheeks.

"Alright, go ahead," Lily grinned, covering her face so she wouldn't give them away.

A moment later, Bellatrix wrenched open the door to their compartment, looking furious. She smirked as she saw Lily sitting on the bench, sobs racking her body and Narcissa yelling something about showing proper respect.

"Well I'm glad to see at least one of my sisters is behaving properly," she told Narcissa, who was red in the face. In actuality, the blonde was turning red from held in laughter seeing as she knew Lily was laughing hysterically into her hands.

"Come on, Bella," she said in her most pretentious voice. "I'm finished here."

With a covert wink a Lily, who had uncovered her face and was hiccupping, she pushed Bellatrix out of the compartment.

"What did it say to offend you Cissy?" Bellatrix asked sympathetically, taking her sister's hand.

"It doesn't matter," Narcissa shook her head. "She won't do it again."

Bellatrix smiled at the youngest Black and nodded.

* * *

Narcissa relaxed a bit; the common room was empty. Still, the Lestrange brothers were notorious for lurking around the castle at odd times of night, so she put the note in the inside of her robes and walked quickly to the owlery. She stopped to catch her breath when she got there, looking around to see if anyone had followed her. She wasn't sure who she was more afraid of getting caught by, a teacher, Malfoy, or Bella. All three would be bad, what with the incriminating note she was currently securing to one of the smaller owls for morning delivery. A moment later she was sneaking her way back to the common room. When she got to the second landing, Rodolphus caught her.

"Narcissa?" he said, walking over. "What are you doing out?"

"I…couldn't sleep. Is Bellatrix around here?"

"Down the corridor," he pointed. "Careful that a Gryffindor doesn't catch you; they're patrolling too."

Narcissa gave him a nod and walked in the direction he had indicated. She had no wish to see her sister at that moment, but she couldn't come up with anything else to tell Rodolphus.

"Bella?" she said. Her sister turned around.

"Cissy? What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come find you. Took so long that I'm actually tired now. I'll just go back to the common room, shall I?"

"Fine," Bellatrix looked at her oddly.

"Night Bella."

"Night Cissy."

The blonde reached the Slytherin dormitories in record time, only having one scare with a Gryffindor Prefect. She managed to dodge his sight in time and had run all the way back to the dungeons. Quietly, she crept back into her room and got into bed.

**Quiet**

"Cissy, we're going to hang out in Slughorn's office today. Do you want to join?"

"No thanks Bella," Narcissa shook her head. "I'm going to Hogsmeade."

"For what?" Malfoy asked from across the table.

"I want to go out to eat," Narcissa shrugged. "I haven't been down there in a while."

"I should think not," Rodolphus gave her a disgusted look. "It's only Mudbloods that aren't used to magic that get a kick out of the village. It's so common."

"Of course, but it'll be good to get away for a while."

The elder Lestrange looked like he was about to say something, but Bellatrix shot him a glare and he looked down at his plate. Narcissa suppressed a snort of laughter with great difficulty; the boy was so whipped.

It was windy out that day, but Narcissa paid no attention. She walked through the village, taking in all of the excitement around her. Zonko's was just opening after its fireworks and sundae toppings incident, and the Three Broomsticks was crowded as ever. She walked past all this to the edge of the village where some of the houses were. She turned down an alley between a house and the village's best cake shop, smiling at the girl leaning against the wall.

"Hello Lily."

"Hey Cissa. Are you sure about this? I mean, people might catch on if we're hanging out with each other in public."

"It's alright, we'll just stay to this end of the village. Most of the school crowd hangs out in the Three Broomsticks."

"Okay."

"Wanna go in here? They have great cakes."

"Sure!"

They walked into the bakery and up to the counter. A plump woman with iron gray hair walked over to them behind the counter.

"Can I help you dears?" she asked.

Lily gave Narcissa a look.

"I've never been here before," she smiled. "What's good?"

"Everything," Narcissa told her. "Two pumpkin bars and hot chocolates please," she said to the woman.

"I can pay for mine," Lily said as Narcissa took out her purse.

"Don't worry about it."

Once she had paid, the pair of them grabbed a table and caught up on everything that had happened that semester.

"Sorry I haven't been around," Narcissa mumbled. "I can't seem to get away from Bella anymore. You know, since Andy…er…defected."

Lily laughed at the description of the middle Black's desertion form the family. They talked about everything from Lily's Transfiguration marks, to Quidditch, to whether or not Malfoy was going to ask Narcissa to marry him the year after next.

"Would you say yes?" Lily asked.

"I don't like him."

"So no?"

"I don't have a choice."

"Sure you do! Andy did," Lily said reasonably.

At that moment, the bell at the top of the door jingled. Narcissa looked around and had to eat her previous words. Sirius, Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew were all walking through the door. Her cousin stopped dead when he saw her.

"Narcissa? What're you doing here?"

"Enjoying an afternoon off, you?"

"The same. Hey Evans."

"Hey Black."

The girls watched the boys pay and leave. After they'd gone, Narcissa turned to Lily and said,

"I'm screwed."

For the next few days, Narcissa's frame of mind was that of a long tailed cat in a rocking chair factory. She was waiting for the inevitable; for the news of her hanging out with a Gryffindor Muggle-born to reach Slytherin ears. Nothing happened, though, and by the end of the week Bellatrix and Andromeda were insisting that she see the nurse. She waved off the concerned advice, saying that she was fine. She was just getting over her nerves when, on Saturday, the storm broke.

She was, ironically, walking to meet Lily in the library when she saw them. Bellatrix and Sirius were in a stand-off in the hallway right in front of the part of the building she was going into, their wands drawn, when she ran over. Getting between them she said,

"What are you two doing? Bella, put that away! You'll both get in trouble; you too Sirius."

"I was just wondering if Sirius was turning into as much of a disappointment as Andy…"

Narcissa glared at her on behalf of her sister.

"You know, I didn't think you were this dense," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Both of your sisters know this pureblood mess is stupid. Andy's dating a Muggle-born and Cissy's friends with one. Get over yourself."

He stowed his wand and walked away.

"What?" Bellatrix turned slowly to Narcissa. The younger girl backed away a few paces, just in case her sister didn't wait for an explanation. "What's he talking about, Cissy."

"Look, Bella…I didn't know she was a Muggle-born at first."

"What house?" Bella whispered.

"Gryffindor."

"How could you not have known?"

"I just didn't. And I mean…she's fun, I like her."

"No you don't," Bellatrix said. "You hate her guts; we do _**not**_ hang around mudbloods. We are Blacks, and we are better than that. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Bellatrix."

"Good, but just to make sure, Malfoy will accompany you to your classes from now on. Just so you don't get anymore of Andromeda's stupid ideas…"

With the kind of bad timing specially reserved for Gryffindors, Lily walked out of the library at that moment. Even worse, she seemed to not notice who Narcissa was talking to.

"Cissa, what are you doing? I've been wai—" she began, cutting off when Bellatrix turned around. The eldest Black whipped her wand around, hoisting Lily into the air.

"Is this her?" she smiled. "Of course it is; you wouldn't look so scared if it wasn't."

She turned back to Lily, still smiling a very disconcerting smile, and stared the third year right in the eyes.

"Whatever you have going on with my sister will. Stop. Now. Do you understand?"

Lily glared at her, but said, "Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, Miss Bellatrix."

Narcissa sniggered. Leave it to Bellatrix…

"And you!" Bellatrix turned back to her. Oops… "We're leaving."

Bellatrix let Lily crumple to the ground and grabbed her sister roughly by the arm. Narcissa looked back and mouthed, "I'll owl you!" to Lily, who simply smiled and shook her head.

**_LbN: Hope you liked it! Leave a review, por favor!_**


	3. Sixth Year

**_LbN: Shorter chapter today; in which Narcissa reassures Lily and puts Malfoy in his place...:D_**

**Quiet**

"No."

"No? Lily—"

"I'm studying, Cissa."

Narcissa looked down at Lily, who was concentrating on her Charms book. With a quick glance around to make sure no one else was nearby, Narcissa sat on the table, grabbed the book away, and gently took Lily's face in her hands.

"What's wrong? We always spend Hogsmeade weekend together."

"Yeah, hidden away in some dungeon or empty classroom. I'm tired of this Cissa; of sneaking around all the time and it's not like…"

"What?"

"What's the point?" Lily asked desperately. "You're graduating next year; you're just going to go off and marry Malfoy," she managed to convey a lot of contempt in that last word. She said it the way Narcissa said "slug". "We won't be able to see each other then, so what's the point of sneaking around the castle once a month?"

Narcissa had no response to that. Lily had a point; but on the other hand, these meetings were the part of the month Narcissa looked forward to the most. What happened next was something that Narcissa would never be able to explain. She kissed Lily. After the initial shock wore off, both of them got into the kiss more. They pulled away from each other after another moment, both red in the face.

"Listen," Narcissa said. "I want to be with you. Really. I have to get back to the common now, but will you please meet me tomorrow? Please?"

"I thought Blacks didn't beg…" Lily smirked, quoting one of Bellatrix's favorite sayings.

"Urgh, you're never going to let me live that one down, are you?"

"Nope! And yes, I'll meet you tomorrow. Charms room?"

"Sure," Narcissa said, giving Lily another small kiss. "Around ten; I should be able to ditch Malfoy by then."

"Ok."

With a smile, Narcissa gave the Charms book back to Lily and walked to the front of the library; checking out a copy of Advanced Arithmancy Volume Four . She was glad no one except Madam Pince was around to see her goofy grin right now. Proud of the fact that she'd finally gotten enough nerve to kiss Lily (and elated that Lily hadn't flipped out) she whistled the entire way back to the common room. Blacks don't whistle, she thought with a chuckle. With superhuman control, she composed herself before walking into the Slytherin dorm. As expected, Malfoy and his cronies were waiting for her. She really wasn't in the mood to have her buzz killed in front of most of the house…

"Where were you?" he asked loud enough for the random people in the room to begin to stare.

"I needed a book," she told him, holding it up for him to see. "And I'm tired of you hovering over me."

"You went to see _her_ didn't you?"

"No, you daft bastard," she sighed, internally celebrating by the scandalized gasps from younger Slytherins; most of whom adored Malfoy. "I needed this for class, so I went to the library."

"You're not to see her."

"I know that Malfoy! I told you, I hate the way you follow me everywhere! Lay off alright?"

"I'm your husband! I can follow you around all I want!"

"No, you're just my stupid fiancé."

He closed the small distance between them in an instant and slapped Narcissa across the face. Her faces burned and her eyes stung, but she'd be damned if she was going to let him see her cry. Reacting faster than she thought she'd be able to, Malfoy was blasted backwards in a blaze of purple light. Lily had changed her in a lot of good ways, but Narcissa was far from being above using Dark magic. The bystanders looked away from her furious gaze, made worse by the bruise that was beginning to form on her cheek, as she made her way to where Malfoy was laying.

"Let me make something clear for you," she said over the sounds of his moaning. "I am not your possession, and you will, starting today, pay me more respect than that. I've not been demanding it and I see that this was a misjudgment of you on my part. I will go where I please, and you will not follow. I am a Black, not a Malfoy yet. Do you understand me?"

Malfoy gave a pitiful whimper that Narcissa took as a "yes". Getting up, she made her way down the hall to her dorm for a little peace and quiet.

**Quiet**

Narcissa squirmed. It couldn't be morning yet; why was she awake? That was when she noticed the pressure on the end of her bed. She shot up, wand at the ready, but relaxed when she saw Bellatrix.

"Bella!" she said, crawling over to hug her sister. "What are you doing here?"

"I received an interesting letter from Malfoy a bit earlier. Care to explain?"

Narcissa knew her sister well; better than most people. She knew that if she was anything less than horrible to Lily in her explanation, Bellatrix would know something was up.

"He was being paranoid and thought that I had been to see…you know, the mudblood," she explained, hating the words coming from her mouth. "Then he proceeded to insinuate that I was lying when I told him I hadn't. I needed a book from the library and didn't want him hovering around me is all."

She managed to pull off her best petulant tone for the last sentence. Bellatrix gave her a hard look, but nodded a moment later.

"So I told him to back off," Narcissa continued when she was sure her eldest sister believed her story. "And he hit me!"

"He what?" Bellatrix asked. Narcissa shivered; Bellatrix was the only one of them that had mastered their mother's _I'm-about-to-kill-someone_ tone.

"He hit me."

"What did you do after that?"

Aha, Narcissa thought, a trap. Most pureblood women would expect her to say she backed off and was _calmer_ with him, since he was soon to be her husband. Not Bellatrix. Narcissa told the truth.

"I sent him flying across the common room," she said. "And reminded him of whom he was addressing."

"Good," Bellatrix nodded. "Get back into bed; I'll have words with him tomorrow."

"How'd you get here?" Narcissa asked curiously.

"Slughorn's office. He always goes for a midnight snack in the kitchens around one in the morning. I've got to go before he gets back."

"Bye Bella."

"Bye Cissy."

**_LbN: Hope you liked it! Reviews are most welcome!!_**


	4. Last Meetings

**_LbN: No excuses guys. I needed a break from this one; story exhaustion. Hope this last chapter is worth the wait!!_**

**Quiet**

"Hey Ciss—Narcissa!" Lily exclaimed.

"It's nothing…" Narcissa mumbled when Lily ran over to her.

"How'd you get this?" Lily asked, kissing the bruise on the blonde's cheek.

Narcissa fidgeted.

"Promise you won't freak out?"

"No. What happened?"

"Malfoy hit me," Narcissa sighed.

"WHAT??"

"He hit me. And I…well, fought back."

Lily pulled Narcissa into a hug, and the blonde could feel her shaking slightly with anger. Without a word, Narcissa pulled away and looked down. She was really, _really_, worried about how Lily was going to react to this. Hopefully the redhead wouldn't do anything ridiculous…

"Don't worry," Lily played with a strand of Narcissa's hair, apparently thinking hard. "I'll find a spell that'll take his toenails off. Slowly."

"Lily," Narcissa smiled. "You can't."

"Merlin's balls, I can't," she crossed her arms. "I'll be sneaky about it, don't worry. No one will even know it was me."

"No, Lily Evans," Narcissa laughed.

"Why are you defending him?" Lily asked.

"I'm not, it's just…"

"You are," Lily insisted. "You always do."

"Please don't start this again…"

"Tell me something; just this one thing. Are you going to marry him?"

"I've been betrothed to him since I was three."

"That doesn't answer my question. You don't love him, I know you don't."

"No, I don't. But yes, I'm going to marry him."

"Why? There's no sensible reason—"

"You don't know that! You have no idea what I go through; the things expected of me…"

"When you were five, your parents made you go through "elegance training". When you were eight, you and Malfoy had to be presented together in an official betrothal ceremony. At eleven, you watched your mother Crucio Andromeda because she hadn't gotten top marks in two of her classes. And now, you're being bullied, once again, into doing something you don't want to do. Into marrying a guy who hits you and only 'respects' you because he's afraid of Bellatrix. I know what you're going through, Cissa," Lily told her softly, hugging her. "I do. But you don't have to be who they want you to be. I mean, look at Andromeda."

"I can't just…I can't turn my back on my family," Narcissa said in a pleading voice. Lily had to understand; she always understood. They'd have the argument, Lily would vent, and then they'd leave the subject alone.

"Yes you can. They're wrong, Narcissa; you know they're wrong. Plus, being in love with a Muggle-born might hinder the nuptials just a tad…"

"It might," Narcissa conceded with a smile. She took a step towards Lily, but the redhead wasn't going to be consoled that easily.

"No."

"What?" Narcissa asked, surprised when Lily pulled away from her.

"I…I don't want to do this anymore. I know this is hard for you, but you have to understand…I love you, but I know I can't have you; so let's just—"

"Lily—"

"No!" she said, beginning to cry. She wiped away the tears hurriedly. "We're not going to do this. Not until you make the decision to whether or not you want to put up with Malfoy for the rest of your life."

With that, Lily turned and walked out of the classroom, leaving Narcissa surrounded by the quiet.

* * *

Narcissa looked away from the Pensive, not bothering to do anything about the tears that matched her younger self's. There were many things in her life that she regretted, and this day topped her list. She should've stopped Lily. She should've followed in Andy's footsteps and left Malfoy. Harry and Draco should be brothers. This was the source of her ire towards Harry James Potter: Pure. Unrelenting. Regret. There were a lot of things she should've done differently, but hadn't; and feeling a bit masochistic, she swirled the contents of the stone basin with her wand and began to watch the memory she hated, and at the same time, loved, the most…

* * *

"Potter?"

"Bloody hell," Lily spun around in the garden. "Narcissa? What are you doing here? How do you even know where I live?"

"Talked to Severus. So…Potter? You couldn't find anyone less vile?"

"Says the woman who married Malfoy," Lily gave her a glare. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to congratulate you. Do you love him?" the blonde repeated the question Lily had always asked her.

"Yeah, I do," Lily smiled.

"Do you…" Narcissa trailed off; afraid of the answer she might receive. "Do you love him more than you love me?"

"I love him differently than I love you. But no, not more."

"What's that mean?"

Lily sighed and took off her gardening gloves.

"That means we have a completely different relationship than you and I had; but I don't love him more than you."

"I miss you."

"Oh, don't start Cissa…"

Narcissa couldn't help but smile at the use of her old nickname. And the fact that Lily's patience with her hadn't improved…

"I'm telling the truth," she said. "But I'm happy for you. I'm happy that you're happy. Have a good seventh year."

"Thanks," Lily smiled.

Narcissa smiled back at her, before Disapparating.

* * *

Narcissa Malfoy closed the doors of her vanity over the Pensive. Collecting herself, she got up from the chair and left her room. She walked down the stairs and through the hall that led to Draco's room; planning on waking her son up from his afternoon nap and getting him to help her with tea. Upset though she was, she didn't want to be alone. She hated the quiet.

**_LbN: Hope y'all liked it! Send reviews, por favor!_**


End file.
